Idle Hopes

"No longer wander at hazard, for neither will you read your own memoirs, nor the acts of the ancient Romans and Hellenes, and the selections from books you were reserving for your old age. Hasten then to the end you have before you, and, throwing away idle hopes, come to your own aid, if you care at all for yourself, while it is in your power." —Marcus Aurelius (III, 14)